redwood 00

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Glue on 2 pieces - the extra width at the tip of the head, and the length of the heel

2) Refine the shoulder of the tenon with a shoulder plane - wonder why they call it that

3) Looking good

[Diane Kauffmds]

Looking good Ed.

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Actually - not looking so good. The head shape I chose just barely fit the width of my neck blank but the centerline of the head was off the centerline of the neck shaft. I compensated a little wrong, and had to shave one side of the tenon and glue a piece on the other side. Got it fixed, drilled the bolt hole, and looks good - finally

2) So got it very close to the right angle and centered quite well

3) And a joint within flossing distance

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) I locate my Richlite fretboard - cheaper than an ebony blank and pre-radiused, tapered, and slotted - and clamp it on. I drill a 1/16" hole centered on a fret slot at the far ends of the board - 11th and 1st frets in this case

2) I tack in a 17 gauge brad and nip off the end - now I have locating pins to put the fretboard back in the same place each time I take it off. This one is a little long - I'll cut it off a bit again

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Now that the neck joint is mostly done and the fretboard is located I can cut out the head shape and the neck shaft. My head is almost 3/4" longer then the conventional Stauffer because the banjo tuners need a little extra length for the knobs to clear each other

2) The Maple will look great with a black neck

3) Pretty much what I was going for - very pleased. Always interesting when you see that your vision has worked out

[ruby@magpage.com]

Slow and steady wins the race. Not really racing, just trying to justify being slow.

1) Now for my favorite luthier job - shaping a neck. It only takes a couple of hours and I wish it took twice as long. Start by planing the sides of the neck close to the fretboard, but not quite there

2) Clamp it in my jig - a piece of 1-3/4 X 12 glue-lam framing lumber out of a dumpster - it was the perfect length

3) First is to get the correct neck thickness at the 1st and 9th frets. The large hole in the jig is exactly 1" down, so I can just add 1" to whatever I need on the neck and hopefully avoid math errors - no guarantee there. I left about 1/8" too much thickness on the blank when I cut it out so I am taking it down with a rasp

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Do the other end then bring down the middle to join them and draw a line down the center and never remove that line - that's the centerline and the apex of the neck

2) Start at the first fret and get the template to fit at the right depth, I made this template off my 1974 Martin 000-28 neck - I like it the best

3) Slowly remove material until the template fits. This thin template works great - just tip it back and forth and you can readily see where the high spots are as the template pivots on the them. Mark, remove, repeat

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Do it again at the 9th fret with the other size profile on the pattern

2) Now connect the two shaped areas with spokeshaves and files but don't remove the center pencil line. I made that purple shave from a tall ship scrap of purpleheart

3) Feel for hard areas with the hand, file them a touch, and after a couple of grits of sandpaper, it looks great. Makes you realize why mahogany is a favorite of cabinetmakers - works so nice!

[ruby@magpage.com]

1) Another shot of the jig - it has the 15° neck support area built right in, and opening for clamps at various locations, and it sticks out far enough from the bench that I can get to both sides of it - not my idea

2) Now for the heel. I am copying what Martin did for their tribute guitars with the Stauffer head. Lots of circular section. The little curved bottom spokeshave was made for me by a friend out of Lignum Vitae and it is the perfect tool for this job with tight radii

3) Files and sandpaper and it looks about right. Moving the light and following the shadow line is a good way to find inconsistencies in the shape, then your fingers can refine that. Time to tackle the head

[Diane Kauffmds]

Looking very nice Ed.